Peters



EZRA ST'ILE'S, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

Letters Patent No. 76,842, dated April 14, 1868.

IMPROVEMENT, IN UARrTRUGKS.

tits fithetub nfemt In in these itcttrts Eaton ant making but at the same.

TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that I, EZRA- STILES, of the city and county of New York, and State of New York, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Safety-Trucks for Railroad-Cars; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof.

My invention is intended to avoid, as far as possible, the disasters due to the. accidental breakage or displacement of the ordinary wheels from any cause. It frequently happens that in cases of running oil of a switch, or a broken or defective rail, :1. broken axle, or other analogous cause for accident, the position of the truck in respect to the line of the road is not thrown out of place but a fewinches, and in many instances, in cases of a broken wheel, where the track is perfect, the truck is not disturbed in position by the accident proper at all, and only becomes thrown out of place by its inability to maintain its proper position against any disturbing force received afterwards. This invention provides for all such cases in a manner more effective and simple than any before known. I

I will first describe what I consider the best means of carrying out myinvention, and will afterwards desig hate the points which I believe to be new.. The accompanying drawings form a part of this specification.

Figure 1 is a side elevation,

Figure2 a longitudinal section, and' Figure 3 a plan view.

The figures show the novel parts, .with so much of the other parts as is necessary to show their relation thereto. The parts not represented may be made in the ordinary approved manner.

Similar letters ofreference indicate like parts in all the figures.

A isa truck-frame, made in anyapproved manner. B, 860., are the ordinary wheels, mounted on axles 6, carried in boxes in the truck-frame, with springs, bolsters, & -c., as usual. 0 0 are brakes, with the levers and their connections, arranged to be operated in the ordinary manner,'in addition to the one hereinafter described. I

' The yokes D, which perform the oflice oi connecting the load, the springs, &c.,'so as to properly transmit the shock through these springs, are extended at the ends, as indicated by DPD and are provided with jaws at the ends, beyond the endsof the truck-frameA. These jaws are provided with springs and boxes, not veryplainly represented in the drawings, but which maybe of any approved pattern, possessing sufficient strength, or which may be omitted altogether, without entirely defeating the object of my invention, the object of the extension D D being to support, either directlyor through the medium of springs and boxes, the axles e and broad wheels E, constructed and arranged as represented.

There are four of these wheels, E E E E. Each is some three times the width of ordinary car-wheels, and each is held at such an elevation above the track, while the track and ordinary wheels are in good condition and properly related, that these'small'and broad wheels E E, &c., are out of contact with the rails. In this condition the truck is worked in the ordinary manner for any length of time,-but the moment that the whole or any part of the ordinary wheels B B, &c., are thrown off the rail on either side, or be breakage or other cause, so that they fail to support the frame A at the proper elevation at wheels E come into action. a

The great breadth of the wheels'E renders it certain that they willstrike tho rails,-on sinking to the level of the track, with any ordinary amount of lateral displacement. There are fl v I anges on the inner edges of these wheels E, which, although they allow a great amount of lateral traverse of the truck, on one side or the other,

come ineflicient by each end, the broad will serve to prevent it i'r omactually leavingthe track. The truck is able to run i'irtliis partially-disabled condition for a long distance, if necessary. I 7 v I attach great importance to the fact that the wheels E E are broader than the ordinary wheels, and are placed as represented, so as to be certain to arrest'the descent of the truck, and to properly carry the truck the truck is thrown out of its proper position, to the right and the superincumbent weight on the rail, whether hand or to the left hand, or is allowed to drop by the breakage of the wheel, or other cause, directly in the proper line. The truck is supported and is carried in precisely the same manner, whether the wheel breaks, the rail breaks, or the rail, and wheel, without either'bcing injured, are simply put out of their proper relations; in other words, the ordinary wheels of the truck are off the track.

I attach a chain, G, to the brakes and to one of the shafts e. So soon as any portion of the weight of the truck is thrown upon either of the wheels E, the corresponding axle is turned up, the brake-chain is wound up, and the brakes are applied, y

H is a cord, communicating with the ordinary bellcord of the train. It is also attached to the shaft e, and so soon as the shaft e commences to turn, it not only puts on the brake, but pulls on the bell-cord, and, in case the increased resistance due to the application of the brake to the truck shall not attract the attention of the engineer, the force rapidly applied to the bell-cord cannot fail to do so.

Some portions of my invention may be applied with profit without the other portions. Thus, for instance,

my wheels E may be applied in precisely the position indicated, and connected directly to an overhanging end of the iigid framework, A, of the truck. In such case there will be no elastic medium interposed, and the action, while riding on the small and broad wheels, will be less gentle, and perhaps more likely to seriously disturb and fracture the parts, unless made very strongly. I prefer, however, to use all the several features of. my improvements herein described in combination. I esteem it specially impin'tant to support the axles 'e on the overhanging ends D of the y okes D, either with or without additional springs at the ends of these extensions, in either of which cases the ordinary springs I, between the yokes D and the truck-frame A, are,

available to deadcn the shocks occurring while riding on the broad wheels E; and I esteem it also important to operate the brakes by these broad wheels thus situated, to operate the bell-cord by such wheels, and to operate both simultaneously by such wheels, as described.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim as new therein, and desire to secure by Letters.

Patent, is as follows;

v 1. I claim the broad wheels E E, when arranged in front of the main wheels B, and having bearingsin the bar D and springs I, substantially as and for the purposes herein set forth.

2. I claim the chain G and cord H, in combination with the broad safety-wheels E E, arranged as and for the purpose herein set forth.

' EZRA STILES.

Witnesses:

HENRY STANTON, P. H. Fem). 

